Betty Crocker, an invented identity whose face adorns the packaging of more than 200 food products manufactured by General Mills, is one of the most recognized icons in American brand-name marketing. Together with the trademarked red spoon logo, the Betty Crocker brand name is found on many cake mixes and dessert products, main courses like Hamburger Helper and scalloped potatoes, and snacks like microwave popcorn and chewy fruit items. The Betty Crocker brand name accounts for over $1.5 billion each year, which is nearly thirty percent of annual sales for General Mills.

The name originated in 1921 when Washburn Crosby Company, as General Mills was then known, sponsored a jigsaw-puzzle contest and found that the entrants, mostly women, wanted more information about baking. The two most significant factors behind the creation of the Betty Crocker name, according to a General Mills document, "were the philosophy and doctrine of sincere...